Dilemma, PLEASE HELP, PRIZES INSIDE!

abank
Thu, 26 Jul 2007 20:45:36 +0000

This is long, I know, but please read, it will be fun! (plus you can get the joy of helping a stressed out and confused child)
Alright I am stuck between two places to apply to ED, Cornell and WashU (I know many of you had read this from me already but this is a more extensive description of my situation, and if you are sick of me, then, well, I don’t know). First here are my stats again:
SAT I: 2150 (V 750 M 650 W 750)
SAT II’s: US Hist 640 Spanish 660 (retaking some)
ACT: 32
GPA: 3.76 (unweighted at highly competitive prep school)
Alright, well first of all I will be applying to the college of art and sciences at both.
I have recently visited both (within the past week), I enjoyed both a lot (the reason why I am considering applying ED to one of them). After visiting both I thought “wow, I really want to go here”. IMO Cornell gets the slight edge for these reasons: Prestige (yes, I know, but it is hard to resist wanting to go to an Ivy League School), job recruiting, regional location (northeast), and from some research it seems like many many many more successful (wikipedia notable alumni) people have attended Cornell when juxtaposed to WashU (I know this is stupid…or is it…).
Here is what I would like you to do: MAKE A DECISION FOR ME, just kidding, kind of (really, please do), but if you feel that any of the reasons why I gave Cornell the slight edge are wrong or misled (which I know fully well may be the case), please tell me.
You may be asking “well, abank, why not just apply to Cornell if you like it more?”
The reason for this is because, after talking to my counselor and other sources WashU’s Early Decision is amazing in the sense that it accepts a loooottt of people (apparently to boost up their yield rate for rankings), so what it comes to down to is: Apply to Cornell ED because I enjoyed it slightly more ooorrrr applying ED to WashU even though I gave the slight edge to Cornell, but have a much higher chance of getting in.
You may now be thinking “well, abank (if that is your real name), if you are sooooo stuck in this matter why not apply regular to both?!”
Here is my response: My stats seem to be borderline (bottom) at all of the top top schools (washu, cornell ect), and I have a fear that if I do not apply ED to one of the two I will be wasting a great opportunity to lock myself into a great school and potentially setting myself up for not getting into any of these type schools and having to end up at school of much lower quality (yes I know that you can get a great education anywhere, but my main goal in applying to the top schools is to be surrounded by intelligent people who will push me to do my best). So, I guess I really do not have a specefic question in all of this, but feel free to type a stream of thought thing in what YOU would do in my situation (thanks for reading).

Oh, if you are just going to say “apply regular decision to both” then don’t bother increasing your chances for arthritis, because I WILL apply ED to one of them, it is just a matter of which one (okay, now realllly thanks for reading!)